Stunnah

I am going to log 24 hours wherein I do not spend some time working on a PD office/client related issue. This would be perhaps the third (at most) such period since I moved down here at the beginning of August.  Tomorrow (Sunday) will find me doing an 8-hr day. (I don’t mean to seem to bitch about my schedule, but it is what it is at the moment – and I do love the job, so it’s not as much of a burden as you might think.) 

Thusfar (15 days in), I have not been able to put into place everything I want to, in terms of affirmatively and aggressively dealing with my various courtrooms. But I’m making headway, developing the cases further and further out, reading and absorbing things that can help my clients, and, in general, learning.

The curve is steep, but I hit it running and that’s paid off thusfar.

I’d love to share the particulars with everybody, but things are still in the works, this is a public blog, and I’d like to keep what surprises I have as such – and the non-surprise stuff is simply business as usual.

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So what is business as usual for me?

What I can tell you is that I handle misdemeanor crimes and that in my particular division, all my clients are incarcerated. This basically means my clients are too poor to post a bond, there are mental health issues, the client was out but violated the conditions of their release, or the client is being held on an unrelated and more serious matter. Each of these situations presents its own unique challenges. If my client gets out, they’re transferred to another division.   

My caseload is 100-120ish or so, but it varies week to week. In any given upcoming 2-3 weeks, I’ll have about 30ish cases ready to go to trial. Our trial dates are Mon and Wed – meaning that I usually have 5-9 cases that could go to trial on each of those days.  Trials are set about 3 weeks out, so that gives me some time to prepare them. Although many interviews of witnesses are done on the day of trial, in the courtroom hallway (setting the cases further back to take depos would result in the clients being held longer.)

Every day we also have a regular calendar (new clients) which we have to counsel and convey plea offers to.  (BTW a calendar is just a fancy way of saying (“both a list of the people who have to be in court and a period of time in which the court addresses whatever needs to be addressed regarding those people.) The new client cases usually plead out or are set for trial, depending on the offer and the client’s desires/wishes/priorities. Sometimes a case set for trial will get put back on the calendar for various reasons (the client is not always present) and we’ll have to deal with whatever the case is there for. I’ll get anywhere between 10-30 new clients on any given day.

Every day we also have the Mental Health calendar. That’s usually about 5 clients or so. I will save the Mental Health calendar for another blog post as the MHC nearly always damages my calm.

Right now there are 4 public defenders in that courtroom division. So the number of things the court handles is 4X greater than everything I’ve written above.

We start at 7-8 (depending) in the office, go to the courthouse, start working with the clients at 8-9 (depending), and finish anywhere between 1pm and 5pm.

Then we go back to the office, run all the files for the clients we dealt with that day, review our new client files for the next day, and of course, try to make headway on issues that are not a part of that daily cycle.

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While I am currently weighted down by a head-cold, I’m hoping for a strong week, given that I have a quasi-marriage ceremony to fly to to next weekend. Well, it’s an actual spiritual marriage, but it will have no legal validity. My first cousin (eldest woman cousin, second eldest cousin after myself on my father’s side) is getting handfasted, as her southern state, unlike the very enlightened state of MA, does not recognize the love that she and her partner share – at least not to the extent that said state would care to encourage two stable and responsible adults to reinforce each other’s lives and care for one another in the most basic and essential of human pairings (outside of the parent-child bond).

It’s a situation that fills me with shame for our country, and I hope one day not to be remembered as one of the silent majority who simply didn’t stir themselves to address an injustice that didn’t directly affect them. And at this point in my life’s ambitions, that’s all I’m really looking to do from here on out.  It’d be a nice headstone.

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I’m blogging all this from my balcony, it’s mid-80s in the shade and there’s that light but gently gusty ocean breeze coming across the city from the water. I’m shirtless and propped up on some pillows next to my herb garden, which is growing like gangbusters, except for the peppers, which don’t seem to like it here. I need to put aside some time to properly cook something tricky, but the hours have been making that difficult.  I’d also like to rig a small composter out here.

My balcony looks north, so it’s not sunblasted in the afternoon. I can see a good chunk of the city skyline and some amazing clouds. Like Seth, as a New Englander cum Mid-Atlanticer, I’m amazed at the sky in my new home. Florida has the most dramatic and beautiful sky I’ve ever seen anywhere, and given the relative flatness of the state, there’s so very much of it to look at. I haven’t done any serious stargazing yet, given the light pollution from the city, but the relative lack of haze seems promising.

I’d also like to rig my hammock out here, but per condo rules, that’s strictly verboten.

From the balcony I can see nearly all the major modes of transportation around here (at least symbolically).  I’m close to the 95/395 interchange, the metro rail/bus stop is literally a stone’s throw away (seriously, literally, and actually). Not that I’d ever throw anything at the orange shirted crowds below, mind you. (There’s some big football game starting soon at the orange bowl, which is about a 10 min walk from my place. Train lines will be jammed up for a bit. As I’ve said elsewhere I only follow baseball and thusfar my Red Sox have been strong and interesting yet curiously undramatic – perhaps it’s the 2004-afterglow, but I seem no longer to live and die with every pitch. Having finally captured a series title, allows me, as a fan, a certain kind of reserve (although keep in mind, that’s relative). So what if the Yanks beat us in the regular season series? We still have the lead. And if I recall correctly, it seems that the RS have had a *bit* more success than the Yanks in our new century.) To the west is a branch of the Miami River, and a bit further on the river itself, where boats and ships make their way along. Further west (and slightly north) I can see the tower of the Miami International Airport.

You might think all this would make things noisy, but for whatever reason, it’s just as quiet as my DC apartment. With the door shut to the balcony, I can’t even hear the metro train arriving unless I’m actively listening for it.

As I’ve written before, while my neighborhood is convenient to work/necessity shopping/Little Havana, it’s an unexciting neighborhood compared to Miami Beach, but frankly, I didn’t come here for the beautiful people with their minimal clothing, expensive cocktails and their tricked out cars. Not that I’m complaining, mind you. It’s just not important enough to have it around me all the time. It’s sort of this weird cultural exhibit that’s not exactly alienating, not exactly fun, but is always amusing. I feel like I kind of move through it (getting nice beer and gelato, observing tricked out cars and people wearing boa constrictors on their necks at bars) but am not actually a part of it.

**

Former-roomie The James Bond Watch (plus unmonikered girlfriend) is in town, and shit, is he a guy that I just miss having around. He interviewed with two rockstar Federal Judges down here, and I hope he gets a clerkship. (The JBW’s not unflashy exterior hides a plethora of surprising and useful talents which can deal with even the most nefarious of situations. Hence the moniker.)   

He also graciously allowed a test-run of the “Scoplaw would like to have people stay over but is concerned that his job/hours would make such something of a pain for said guests” concern. I’m happy to say that whatever structural impediments my car/building/garage/job imposes on people visiting, they’re all dealable in a very easy and non-stress producing way.

As part of the visit, we hit the town for dinner and drinks. No Irish drinking songs were sung, alas, but we did have dinner at a place that featured a life Hatian band, who were pretty good.

We also met up with two other Unmonikereds, a PD that I work with (I shall tentatively name her TLF) and a tall red-head Scandinavian Poli-Sci professor who is both irreverent and funny. (I’m quite tempted to develop a crush on the professor, but I think she has little use for my profession.)

TLF has been a local god-send to me. Not only is she great to hang out with, but she has such a wide range of social interests that she usually (by random chance) has something cool cooking during one of my 4-hour-free blocks on the weekends.  For example, last week the TLF took me to an anarchist birthday/houseparty. The crowd was a bit young for me, but I did get to jump on a trampoline and watch some mock superhero/WWF wrestling. It was sort of weird to be there – I could drop any of my perceptive “lenses” over the crowd; the younger Scoplaw seeing things in terms of poetry and politics and small societies: the current Scoplaw thinking at just how easy it would be for one cop to come in, bend a fact or two, and derail about 20 peoples lives. And mind you, nothing illegal was happening. Sigh.

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In terms of odds and ends, I have finally developed a commuting system that does not leave me drenched in sweat.

I have a regular path in, on which I say hello to various regulars. My path out usually does not involve passing anyone on the sidewalks.

I have developed a good relationship with the Cuban barista in my building.  He starts my regular order when he sees me coming. 

No good biking stories – The JBW took up most of my free weekend time, so I may have to (shudder) use the building’s gym this week. I am actually dropping weight pretty quickly, due to the no lunch situation with the courthouse, but I’m approaching the point where I don’t want to go much lower and/or lose the legs.

I passed up an opportunity to see Bill Clinton this past Sunday – a court-house connection was doing fundraising stuff and encouraged me to attend. I had already promised some clients I would see them in the jail on Sunday, and thus couldn’t make it down for a handshake and photo. I’m sure Bill would understand, if he knew. Heh.

**

Well, I think that’s about it for the update. Sorry for the lack of blogging but I seem to be moving into a “blog one, more at length” rather than the “mini-blog-posting” style that I was trying to cultivate during August.

 

 

 

 

Comments

[A]

I'm scheduled to start work as a PD in October - after taking time off to raise my kiddos - your post gave me a very good - yet terrifying - look at what my schedule might be like.

Granted, I'm in another state, but I suspect it's gonna be pretty similar.

Thanks for the heads up. Wish me luck.

[A]

I'm scheduled to start work as a PD in October - after taking time off to raise my kiddos - your post gave me a very good - yet terrifying - look at what my schedule might be like.

Granted, I'm in another state, but I suspect it's gonna be pretty similar.

Thanks for the heads up. Wish me luck.

[Kat]

I feel like I need to go lie down after reading what your life is like right now! Are you sure you're not a bionic-blawger?

Can very much relate to the aprehension about going to the gym...so far I've managed to avoid it by going for a daily brisk walk (a speed walk, I'm told)around a local lake.

Hope your head cold clears up soon!!